Email frequency and consolidation assistant

ABSTRACT

An email system is configured to enable a user to identify frequent email senders and block or consolidate emails from such senders. The emails received within a predetermined time period from a sender, who is selected for consolidation by a user of an email account, are consolidated into one entry in the inbox. This mitigates the inbox from getting overcrowded with frequent emails from various senders. Statistics related to various senders are also generated in order to aid the user in identifying senders whose emails need to be consolidated or blocked.

BACKGROUND

The evolution of the Internet and developments in mobile computing havemade available many communication modalities to the users. Emailcommunications have gained popularity for personal and businesscommunications. In the business arena, email systems are extensivelyused not only to exchange documents, but also for advertising productsand services to consumers. With their speeds, ease in simultaneouscommunication with large volume of clients and in facilitatinggeneration of instantaneous business, advertisements through emailsystems provide great advantages when compared to traditional print andmedia advertisements. This has resulted in email users receiving largevolume of email from many senders.

SUMMARY

This disclosure relates to systems and methods for enabling a user todetect senders who transmit email messages frequently and takeappropriate actions. A method for consolidating emails from a sender isdisclosed in accordance with one embodiment. The method comprisesreceiving, by a processor, input from a user of an email account toconsolidate emails received at the email account from a sender. A viewof an inbox of the email account is configured by the processor, suchthat, a consolidated view of emails from the sender is shown to the userwhen a first new email from the sender upon the user consolidatingemails for the sender. The consolidated view comprises a firstindication associated with a prior email from the sender alreadyexisting in the inbox which is also used for indicating the first newemail. A user device displays the consolidated view of the first newemail and the existing email when the user logs into the email account.In an embodiment, a consolidation element is included in a display ofthe inbox such that the input from the user is received via activationof the consolidation element. In addition, consolidation criteria, suchas, a time period for consolidating emails, are received for the senderby the processor. In an embodiment, when a second new email is receivedfrom the sender upon detection of the expiry of the time period, theview of the inbox is configured to show a second indication for thesecond new mail. In an embodiment, the emails in the consolidated vieware configured by the processor, to be displayed in a tabbed userinterface when the user desires to view the emails.

In an embodiment, attributes of different senders transmitting emailmessages, such as but not limited to, a type of emails transmitting tothe email account and a frequency of message transmission associatedwith each sender are detected. The processor is configured to generate auser interface associated with the email account to display statisticsassociated with most frequent senders based on the detected attributes.

A computing device comprising a processor and a storage medium fortangibly storing thereon program logic for execution by the processor isdisclosed in an embodiment. The program logic comprises input receivinglogic for receiving input from a user of an email account to consolidateemails received at the email account from a sender, email receivinglogic for receiving a first new email from the sender and inboxconfiguring logic for configuring a view of an inbox of the emailaccount to show a consolidated view of emails from the sender wherein afirst indication associated with a prior email from the sender alreadyexisting in the inbox is also used for indicating the first new emailand transmitting logic for transmitting instructions to a user device todisplay the consolidated view of the first new email and the existingemail when the user logs into the email account.

In an embodiment, the program logic further comprises configuring logic,executed by the processor, for configuring a display of the inbox toinclude a consolidation element such that the receiving logic, executedby the processor, receives the input from the user via activation of theconsolidation element. Criteria receiving logic, is executed by theprocessor, for receiving consolidation criteria for the sender whereinthe consolidation criteria comprise at least a time period forconsolidating emails from the sender. The processor also executesdetecting logic for detecting expiry of the time period and entryconfiguring logic for configuring the view of the inbox to show a secondindication for a second new mail received from the sender upon theexpiry.

A computer readable storage medium comprising processor-executableinstructions is disclosed in an embodiment. The instructions whenexecuted by the processor cause the processor to receive input from auser of an email account to consolidate emails received at the emailaccount from a sender such that when a first new email is received fromthe sender by the processor, a view of an inbox of the email account isconfigured to show a consolidated view of emails from the sender. Theconsolidated view includes a first indication associated with a prioremail from the sender already existing in the inbox which is also usedfor indicating receipt of the first new email. Thus, the first new emaildoes not result in a new entry in the inbox. The instructions cause theprocessor to transmit to a user device, instructions to display theconsolidated view of the first new email and the existing email when theuser logs into the email account. The computer readable storage mediumfurther comprises instructions to provide a consolidation element in adisplay of the inbox and receive an activation of the consolidationelement as the input from the user. Further instructions comprisedwithin the computer readable storage medium include instructions toreceive consolidation criteria for the sender, wherein the consolidationcriteria comprise at least a time period for consolidating emails fromthe sender.

In an embodiment, the computer readable medium further comprisesinstructions to detect expiry of the time period so that when a secondnew email is received from the sender upon the expiry, the view of theinbox is configured to show a second indication for the second new mailwherein the second indication is disparate from the first indication.

These and other embodiments will be apparent to those of ordinary skillin the art with reference to the following detailed description and theaccompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the drawing figures, which are not to scale, and where like referencenumerals indicate like elements throughout the several views:

FIG. 1 shows a schematic diagram of a system that enables consolidationand classification of emails in accordance with an embodiment;

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of the email consolidation component inaccordance with one embodiment;

FIG. 3 illustrates a method of providing consolidation of messages foremail users in accordance with one embodiment;

FIG. 4 illustrates a method of providing information regarding sendersto a user of an email account in accordance with one embodiment;

FIG. 5 illustrates a schematic diagram of a contacts tab associated witha user's email account in accordance with one embodiment;

FIG. 6 illustrates a schematic diagram of an inbox showing messagesreceived from senders from whom email messages are merged orconsolidated in accordance with one embodiment;

FIG. 7 illustrates a schematic diagram of a view generated when the userselects the merged message from the inbox in accordance with oneembodiment;

FIG. 8 shows a schematic diagram of the senders tab in the user's emailaccount in accordance with one embodiment;

FIG. 9 illustrates a view of the contacts tab in accordance with oneembodiment;

FIG. 10 shows a schematic illustration that is generated for all theemails received from the various senders in accordance with oneembodiment;

FIG. 11 shows a schematic illustration that is generated when the userselects to view statistics related to a particular type of emailmessages in accordance with one embodiment;

FIG. 12 illustrates internal architecture of a computing device inaccordance with embodiments described herein; and

FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram illustrating a client deviceimplementation of a computing device in accordance with embodiments ofthe present disclosure.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

Subject matter will now be described more fully hereinafter withreference to the accompanying drawings, which form a part hereof, andwhich show, by way of illustration, specific example embodiments.Subject matter may, however, be embodied in a variety of different formsand, therefore, covered or claimed subject matter is intended to beconstrued as not being limited to any example embodiments set forthherein; example embodiments are provided merely to be illustrative.Likewise, a reasonably broad scope for claimed or covered subject matteris intended. Among other things, for example, subject matter may beembodied as methods, devices, components, or systems. Accordingly,embodiments may, for example, take the form of hardware, software,firmware or any combination thereof (other than software per se). Thefollowing detailed description is, therefore, not intended to be takenin a limiting sense.

In the accompanying drawings, some features may be exaggerated to showdetails of particular components (and any size, material and similardetails shown in the figures are intended to be illustrative and notrestrictive). Therefore, specific structural and functional detailsdisclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting, but merely as arepresentative basis for teaching one skilled in the art to variouslyemploy the disclosed embodiments.

The present invention is described below with reference to blockdiagrams and operational illustrations of methods and devices to selectand present media related to a specific topic. It is understood thateach block of the block diagrams or operational illustrations, andcombinations of blocks in the block diagrams or operationalillustrations, can be implemented by means of analog or digital hardwareand computer program instructions. These computer program instructionsor logic can be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer,special purpose computer, ASIC, or other programmable data processingapparatus, such that the instructions, which execute via the processorof the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus,implements the functions/acts specified in the block diagrams oroperational block or blocks.

In some alternate implementations, the functions/acts noted in theblocks can occur out of the order noted in the operationalillustrations. For example, two blocks shown in succession can in factbe executed substantially concurrently or the blocks can sometimes beexecuted in the reverse order, depending upon the functionality/actsinvolved. Furthermore, the embodiments of methods presented anddescribed as flowcharts in this disclosure are provided by way ofexample in order to provide a more complete understanding of thetechnology. The disclosed methods are not limited to the operations andlogical flow presented herein. Alternative embodiments are contemplatedin which the order of the various operations is altered and in whichsub-operations described as being part of a larger operation areperformed independently.

For the purposes of this disclosure the term “server” should beunderstood to refer to a service point which provides processing,database, and communication facilities. By way of example, and notlimitation, the term “server” can refer to a single, physical processorwith associated communications and data storage and database facilities,or it can refer to a networked or clustered complex of processors andassociated network and storage devices, as well as operating softwareand one or more database systems and applications software which supportthe services provided by the server.

For the purposes of this disclosure a “network” should be understood torefer to a network that may couple devices so that communications may beexchanged, such as between a server and a client device or other typesof devices, including between wireless devices coupled via a wirelessnetwork, for example. A network may also include mass storage, such asnetwork attached storage (NAS), a storage area network (SAN), or otherforms of computer or machine readable media, for example. A network mayinclude the Internet, one or more local area networks (LANs), one ormore wide area networks (WANs), wire-line type connections, wirelesstype connections, cellular or any combination thereof. Likewise,sub-networks, which may employ differing architectures or may becompliant or compatible with differing protocols, may interoperatewithin a larger network. Various types of devices may, for example, bemade available to provide an interoperable capability for differingarchitectures or protocols. As one illustrative example, a router mayprovide a link between otherwise separate and independent LANs.

A communication link may include, for example, analog telephone lines,such as a twisted wire pair, a coaxial cable, full or fractional digitallines including T1, T2, T3, or T4 type lines, Integrated ServicesDigital Networks (ISDNs), Digital Subscriber Lines (DSLs), wirelesslinks including satellite links, or other communication links, such asmay be known to those skilled in the art. Furthermore, a computingdevice or other related electronic devices may be remotely coupled to anetwork, such as via a telephone line or link, for example.

A computing device may be capable of sending or receiving signals, suchas via a wired or wireless network, or may be capable of processing orstoring signals, such as in memory as physical memory states, and may,therefore, operate as a server. Thus, devices capable of operating as aserver may include, as examples, dedicated rack-mounted servers, desktopcomputers, laptop computers, set top boxes, integrated devices combiningvarious features, such as two or more features of the foregoing devices,or the like. Servers may vary widely in configuration or capabilities,but generally a server may include one or more central processing unitsand memory. A server may also include one or more mass storage devices,one or more power supplies, one or more wired or wireless networkinterfaces, one or more input/output interfaces, or one or moreoperating systems, such as Windows Server, Mac OS X, Unix, Linux,FreeBSD, or the like.

Throughout the specification and claims, terms may have nuanced meaningssuggested or implied in context beyond an explicitly stated meaning.Likewise, the phrase “in one embodiment” as used herein does notnecessarily refer to the same embodiment and the phrase “in anotherembodiment” as used herein does not necessarily refer to a differentembodiment. It is intended, for example, that claimed subject matterinclude combinations of example embodiments in whole or in part. Ingeneral, terminology may be understood at least in part from usage incontext. For example, terms, such as “and”, “or”, or “and/or,” as usedherein may include a variety of meanings that may depend at least inpart upon the context in which such terms are used. Typically, “or” ifused to associate a list, such as A, B or C, is intended to mean A, B,and C, here used in the inclusive sense, as well as A, B or C, here usedin the exclusive sense. In addition, the term “one or more” as usedherein, depending at least in part upon context, may be used to describeany feature, structure, or characteristic in a singular sense or may beused to describe combinations of features, structures or characteristicsin a plural sense. Similarly, terms, such as “a,” “an,” or “the,” again,may be understood to convey a singular usage or to convey a pluralusage, depending at least in part upon context. In addition, the term“based on” may be understood as not necessarily intended to convey anexclusive set of factors and may, instead, allow for existence ofadditional factors not necessarily expressly described, again, dependingat least in part on context.

The Internet is an essential medium for communication so that people allover the world have their own email accounts to receive electronic mailjust as they have their own addresses to receive paper mail. As theemail accounts are used through the years for personal and businesscommunications, the entities sending communications to the emailaccounts add up and a point may be reached for many users when theyreceive hundreds of email communications daily in their email accounts.In many instances users may not have the time to examine each emailmessage to determine which of the emails are useful or which areirrelevant to them. To save time, users generally tend to judge theimportance or urgency of an email based on a sender and may promptlyopen or ignore email messages based on the senders' identities. Forexample, while an ad email from a retailer with a deal may not be openedpromptly by the user, the deal may nevertheless be of interest to theuser. But when the user's inbox is overflowing with new email from amultitude of senders, there is a high likelihood that the user may missthe interesting deal as the user neglects to open the email message.Hence, various embodiments are disclosed herein that provide betterorganization for email users' inboxes and helps them sift through theiremails more efficiently.

Turning now to the figures, FIG. 1 shows a schematic diagram of a system100 that aids users in better organizing their emails and thereby moreefficiently identifying content of interest in their respective emailaccounts. An email server or an email module 170 is configured tofacilitate electronic mail (or email) communications between varioususers via providing them with email accounts to receive and send emailmessages. A user device 110, such as but not limited to, a desktop,laptop or a smartphone can be employed by an email user to accesshis/her email account with the email module 170 via a network 130 suchas but not limited to the Internet or a mobile data network. The emailmodule 170 executes on a processor (not shown) of the machine 180 inconjunction with a data store 120. The data store 120 is employed forstoring user info which includes user identification information,messages received for sent by the user and preferences of the userwhich, in one embodiment, is used for configuring various displays aswill be detailed further herein. In an embodiment, the data store 120can be part of the machine 180. In an embodiment, the data store 120 canbe remote from the machine 180 executing the email module 170 andaccessible to the machine 180 via a network such as, network 130.

In an embodiment, the email module 170 is configured to organize theuser's email in a manner that aids the user in quickly reviewing theinbox and opening messages that are of greater or immediate interest tothe user. An input module 102 of the email module 170 receives messagestransmitted to the user by the various senders and communicates them tothe email consolidation module 104. The email messages thus received areconsolidated based on the senders and in accordance with the variousconsolidation criteria associated with the email account by the emailconsolidation module 104. In an embodiment, the email consolidationmodule 104 can also be configured to generate statistics for the varioussenders so that the user can receive a summary view of the frequency andtypes of messages transmitted by the various senders. The email displayconfiguration module 106 configures a display of the user's inbox sothat the various email messages received by the user are sorted ondefault criterion such as, the date, and further consolidated based onthe sender's identification. The display configuration instructions aretransmitted to the user device 110 via the output module 108 so that thedisplay 150 of the inbox shown on the user device 110 is configured inaccordance with instructions from the email display configuration module106.

In an embodiment, the display configuration instructions can cause theuser device 110 to display a merge entry or a merged message in theuser's inbox by adding a received new message from a sender to an entryassociated with a message that already exists in the user's inbox fromthe same sender. The appearance of the merged entry is changed toindicate receipt of the new message. The same indication or entry in theinbox that earlier represented the existing message is updated toindicate the additional new message and highlighted or otherwise alteredin appearance to indicate to the user, receipt of a new message from thesender who sent the existing message. Therefore, the receipt of a newmessage does not create an additional entry in the inbox. Rather, itchanges the appearance of an existing inbox entry and hence mitigatesthe need for the user to scroll through multiple entries for the samesender. In one embodiment, when the email user selects to view theconsolidated entry, multiple messages associated with the entry can besimultaneously displayed, for example, under various tabs as will bedetailed further herein.

In an embodiment, the consolidation of emails for the sender can belimited to a certain time period such as one week or one month asdetermined by the user. The user can determine the time period forconsolidation based on, for example, volume of the mail received and/orlevel of interest of the user in the sender. The emails received fromthe sender are consolidated during the time period to a singleindication or merged entry. In an embodiment, in addition to a count ofthe messages associated therewith, the merged entry can also beassociated with a flag within the database. The value of the flag isindicative of the status of the time period. The flag can be set todifferent values based on whether the current time period is within thetime limits set by the user or if the time limit has expired since themessage was last updated. Upon the expiry of the time period, theconsolidation to the single merged entry is halted based on the flagvalue and a second new entry or new indication with the count reset toone can be in included in the inbox for the first new email messagereceived thereafter from the sender thus beginning a new cycle.Subsequent messages received from the sender are added to the count andaccessed via the second new entry until the expiration of the timeperiod for the second time and a third new entry may be started. Thus,upon expiry of a given time period associated with a sender, theconsolidation to an inbox entry for the sender is halted and a new entryis commenced.

In an embodiment, the email consolidation module 104 is also configuredto generate, in response to a request from the user, statistics for thevarious senders who transmit email messages to the user's email account.The email display configuration module 106 accordingly transmitsinstructions via the output module 108 for a display 150 of the userdevice 110 to show the sender statistics. These statistics aid the userin determining which senders are sending email most frequently to theinbox in addition to the nature/type of the messages received at theuser's inbox. This can facilitate the user to classify certain senderswho send messages too frequently as spammers thereby blocking theirmessages and increasing the capacity of the inbox to receive more usefulemail.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of the email consolidation module 104 inaccordance with one embodiment. The email consolidation module 104further comprises a sender id module 202, a merge module 204 and astatistics module 206. When a new message is received it is analyzed toidentify the sender by the sender id module 202. As described herein, auser of an email account can select to consolidate all the emailsreceived from a sender for a particular time period. The consolidationcan occur regardless of the email subject line or the type of email.Only one indication is entered in the user's inbox for all the emailsreceived from the sender during the consolidation time period.Accordingly, if the user of the email account elects to consolidateemails from the sender, the temporal criterion for the consolidationneeds to be input by the user. The sender id module 202 can beconfigured to access such criterion, for example from the data store120, in order to determine if an indication/inbox entry for the newemail should be merged with an existing entry or if a new entry shouldbe initiated. In an embodiment, a default value, such as, a week, can beassociated with senders for consolidation of emails if the user providesno specific time criterion. If no consolidation input is detected or ifthe time period is reset for the sender, a new mail entry may be enteredin the user's inbox. In an embodiment, the user's inbox can beconfigured to provide elements that enable a user to requestconsolidation of emails associated with each of the different senders.If email consolidation has been requested by the user for the sender ofthe new email message and a consolidation time period is currentlyrunning for the sender, the merge module 204 determines if there existsa message entry for the sender in the user's inbox. If a message entryfor the sender exists in the user's inbox, the existing message entry isupdated to indicate receipt of the newly received email message and toprovide access to the newly received message. For example, when the userselects the merged entry on the user device 110, the merged entry isconfigured to display all the messages associated with the entry, forexample, under the various tabs.

In an embodiment, different instances for email messages received fromthe sender within the consolidation time period can be associated with acorresponding merged message, for example, via setting a property value.Correspondingly, whenever a new email message is received, a mergedmessage can be identified and updated to be associated with the newemail message. In an embodiment, a count property can be associated withan instance of the merged message such that count is updated for eachnewly received message that is associated with that instance of themerged message. In an embodiment, the appearance of an inbox entryassociated with the merged message can also be updated. For example, theinbox entry can be bolded or otherwise emphasized to indicate receipt ofa new message from the sender. If there is no current message entry forthe sender in the user's inbox, the message id module 204 generates anew instance of a merge message and associates the new instance with thenewly received message. The message count of the new instance of themerged message is set to one for indicating receipt of a new messagefrom the sender. The user's inbox can be configured to display acorresponding new entry for the newly instanced merge message. As theuser elected to consolidate email messages from the sender, anysubsequently received messages are similarly processed and indicated tothe user via the new entry until the expiration of the time period.

The statistics module 206 is employed for generating statistics for thevarious message senders transmitting email to the user's email account.By the way of illustration the statistics can include but are notlimited to the frequency of messages transmitted by the senders, thetypes of messages, percentage of messages received by the user that aretransmitted by a sender or message senders who are transmittingparticular types of email messages. The statistics can convey therequested information via various graphical or pictorial representationsthat can be easily read or interpreted by the user.

FIG. 3 illustrates a flow chart 300 for a method of providingconsolidation of messages for email users in accordance with oneembodiment. The method commences with receipt of a new message from asender at an email account at 302. At 304 the sender of the message isdetermined and at 306 it is determined if the user has requestedconsolidation of the messages from the sender. If the user has notrequested message consolidation for the sender, then a new message entryis generated in the inbox at 308 and the process terminates on the endblock. If at 306 it is determined that the user has requested messageconsolidation for the sender, an existing message entry in the inbox isidentified for the sender at 310 and a flag associated with the messageentry is examined at 312. As described supra, the flag value can beassociated with an internal clock of a processor executing the methodand can vary based on the time period that the user has set forconsolidation. Thus, the flag can be valid until the clock runs throughthe time period set by the user and may become invalid upon expiry ofthe time period. Thus, if it is determined at 312 that the flag isinvalid, the time period for consolidation has expired and accordingly anew message entry is included in the inbox as shown at 308.

If it is determined at 312 that the flag is valid, the time period forconsolidation to the existing message entry is still running.Accordingly, the existing entry is updated as shown at 314 to be mergedwith the new message as described supra such that a single entry in theuser's inbox associated with the merged message provides access to theexisting message and the newly received message. Furthermore, an updatedcount for the new message is included in the merged message. In anembodiment, the user can access all the messages associated with themerged message entry by clicking on or otherwise selecting it. Theappearance of the merged message entry is altered at 316 to indicatereceipt of the new message to the user.

FIG. 4 illustrates a flow chart for a method of providing informationregarding senders to a user of an email account. The method begins at402 with the email account receiving a new message from a sender. At404, the sender of the email message is identified. The type of emailmessage received from the sender is also identified at 406. In anembodiment, the sender can be an individual and the type of message canbe a personal message. In an embodiment, the sender can be a businessentity and the type of message can be an advertisement, a promotion or amessage related to a transaction such as confirmation of order orpayment receipt or shipping notification. In an embodiment, the type ofmessage can be determined based on the subject line of the message or byfurther analysis of the content in the body of the email by the emailmodule 170. In an embodiment, the data associated with the type ofmessages received by the user from the sender can be stored in adatabase at 408 for further analysis. In an embodiment, a user requestfor analysis of an email account such as, across various senders ormessages is received at 410. It may be appreciated that the step ofreceiving a user request is not necessary or is optional to generate andprovide the statistics. In an embodiment, the email module 170 can beconfigured to generate and provide message/sender related statisticswithout any input or request from the user. Accordingly, at 412 variousstatistics per the user request are generated by the email module 170and provided for display to the user on the user device 110.

FIG. 5 illustrates a schematic diagram of a contacts tab 500 associatedwith a user's email account. The contacts tab 500 is configured toenable user request for consolidation of emails from different sendersin accordance with embodiments described herein. In an embodiment theuser's contacts tab 500 can also be configured to include the ‘allsenders’ tab 530 comprising fields such as type of email 502, thefrequency of email 504 received from the sender, the total number ofemails received from the sender 532 and a user interface element 506 tosort the senders based on the frequency with which they send the emailsto the user's email account. This enables the user to determine whetheror not to consolidate emails from the sender and if consolidated, thecriteria such as the time period to be associated with the emailconsolidation for each sender. The user consolidates senders Twitch 510and Jim Messina 516 into one email per month and the sender IntoNow 512is consolidated into one email per week. Thus, all the emails receivedfrom senders at 510 are consolidated into one email such that only oneentry is shown in the user's inbox up to a month. Whenever a new mail isreceived from Twitch 510, the entry can be changed in appearance inorder to convey the receipt of a new email message to the user. Similarprocedure can be implemented to consolidate senders at 512 and 516. Auser interface element for consolidation 508 enables to user toconsolidate emails from the sender. It may be appreciated that theplacement of user interface elements within the contacts tab 500 isshown only by the way of illustration and not limitation and that otherlocations within the inbox 500 can be contemplated for placing the userinterface elements in accordance with embodiments described herein. Inan embodiment, the user can select a message from a sender and click onthe consolidation element 508 in order to consolidate emails from theselected sender. Similarly, a user interface element 518 to block aparticular sender can also be included in the contacts tab 500. Forexample, the user has chosen to block senders at 520, 522 and 524 sothat their emails are not shown in the inbox 500.

FIG. 6 illustrates a schematic diagram of an inbox 600 showing messagesreceived from senders from whom email messages are merged orconsolidated in accordance with one embodiment. Various senders areconsolidated by the user such that a respective merged message at 604,606, 608 and 610 is displayed for multiple emails received from theconsolidated senders. The notification 602 indicates that the user hasreceived a new message and the inbox entry at 604 indicates that a newmessage is received from a consolidated sender, Marriott Rewards. Asseen from FIG. 6, the new message is not displayed as another entry inthe inbox 600, rather, the appearance of the consolidated merged messageat 604 is altered to indicate receipt of a new email. In addition to thenumber of email messages in the merged message, the type(s) of messageswhich are merged are also indicated. For example, the merged message at606 comprises of both promotions and news type of messages. In anembodiment, the user can customize the inbox 600 to show differentmerged message entries for different types of email messages.

FIG. 7 illustrates a schematic diagram of a view 700 generated when theuser selects the merged message 604 from the inbox 600. As seen fromFIG. 6, the merged message 604 comprises four messages, one or more ofwhich can be new messages. When the user clicks on the merged entry 604,the four messages associated with the merged entry 604 can be displayedwithin a respective tab 702, 704, 706 and 708. In FIG. 7, the new emailmessage is displayed under tab 702 while the remaining messages aredisplayed in the remaining tabs. It may be appreciated that the order ofthe tabs is not limiting and that the various messages can be displayedunder respective tabs arranged in a different order.

FIG. 8 shows a schematic diagram 800 of the senders tab in the user'semail account in accordance with one embodiment. The frequency field 506that indicates the frequency with which a particular sender sends emailsto the user's email account while the total field 532 indicates thetotal number of messages received by the user's email account from eachsender. A graph 804 shows that two emails received from a particularsender each day. Another graph 806 which shows some peaks in a lightershade indicates that 3-5 emails are received from another sender,iBookstore, each week. Thus, the various graphs can be generated forexample, by the sender statistics module 206 showing the number ofemails received in a given time period. This facilitates the user todetermine whether to consolidate emails from a sender and other criteriasuch as the time period for the consolidation. In an embodiment, theemail module 170 can automatically assign the time period forconsolidation based on the frequency related to the sender as describedherein. For example, for the sender ThinkGeekOverlords, a default timeperiod one day can be assigned for consolidation whereas for the senderiBookstore, a default time period of one week can be assigned forconsolidating the email messages.

FIG. 9 illustrates another view 900 of the contacts tab 500 inaccordance with one embodiment. In the view 900, the contacts tab 500comprises a new section 902 indicating the most frequent senders therebyenabling the user to identify potential spammers. The section 902includes a get statistics button 904 which enables the user to requeststatistics regarding the messages received from the various senders.

FIG. 10 shows a schematic illustration 1000 that is generated for allthe emails received from the various senders in accordance with oneembodiment when the user clicks the get statistics button 904 includedin the contacts tab. In addition to the fields such as type 502,frequency 504 and a sender column sorted by frequency 506, the view 1000also comprises another section 1002 showing a graphical representation1004 of the various types of emails received from the various senders.In FIG. 10, the user has selected to view statistics related to promos,announcements, newsletters and special offer types of emails. However,the user has not selected to view personal emails. Graphicalrepresentation 1004 shows the number of emails of each type as a part ofthe total number of emails received at the email account by all thesenders. It may be appreciated that the graphical representation 1004 isshown only by the way of illustration and not limitation and that anyother form of graphical representations such as a bar graph, a linegraph or other forms can be used to convey the data associated with thetype of email messages.

FIG. 11 shows a schematic illustration 1100 that is generated when theuser selects to view statistics related to a particular type of emailmessages in accordance with one embodiment. In FIG. 11, the userselected to view statistics related to promotion type of emails 1104received from various senders. A graphical representation 1108 shows thepromo type of emails received by the user as a part of all the emailsreceived at the email account. A separate section 1106 shows the detailssuch as type 2 frequency 504, sender information 506 and total number ofthe promo type of emails 532 received by the user. Again, it may beappreciated that graphical representation 1108 is shown only by the wayof illustration and not limitation and that any other form of graphicalrepresentations such as a bar graph, a line graph or other forms can begenerated to convey the requested data.

As shown in the example of FIG. 12, internal architecture of a computingdevice 1200 includes one or more processing units (also referred toherein as CPUs) 1212, which interface with at least one computer bus1202. Also interfacing with computer bus 1202 are persistent storagemedium/media 1206, network interface 1214, memory 1204, e.g., randomaccess memory (RAM), run-time transient memory, read only memory (ROM),etc., media disk drive interface 1208, an interface 1220 for a drivethat can read and/or write to media including removable media such asfloppy, CD-ROM, DVD, etc., media, display interface 1210 as interfacefor a monitor or other display device, keyboard interface 1216 asinterface for a keyboard, pointing device interface 1218 as an interfacefor a mouse or other pointing device, and miscellaneous other interfaces1222 not shown individually, such as parallel and serial portinterfaces, a universal serial bus (USB) interface, and the like.

Memory 1204 interfaces with computer bus 1202 so as to provideinformation stored in memory 1204 to CPU 1212 during execution ofsoftware programs such as an operating system, application programs,device drivers, and software modules that comprise program code orlogic, and/or computer-executable process steps, incorporatingfunctionality described herein, e.g., one or more of process flowsdescribed herein. CPU 1212 first loads computer-executable process stepsor logic from storage, e.g., memory 1204, storage medium/media 1206,removable media drive, and/or other storage device. CPU 1212 can thenexecute the stored process steps in order to execute the loadedcomputer-executable process steps. Stored data, e.g., data stored by astorage device, can be accessed by CPU 1212 during the execution ofcomputer-executable process steps.

Persistent storage medium/media 1206 is a computer readable storagemedium(s) that can be used to store software and data, e.g., anoperating system and one or more application programs. Persistentstorage medium/media 1206 can also be used to store device drivers, suchas one or more of a digital camera driver, monitor driver, printerdriver, scanner driver, or other device drivers, web pages, contentfiles, metadata, playlists and other files. Persistent storagemedium/media 1206 can further include program modules/program logic inaccordance with embodiments described herein and data files used toimplement one or more embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram illustrating a client deviceimplementation of a computing device in accordance with embodiments ofthe present disclosure. A client device 1300 may include a computingdevice capable of sending or receiving signals, such as via a wired or awireless network, and capable of running application software or “apps”1310. A client device may, for example, include a desktop computer or aportable device, such as a cellular telephone, a smart phone, a displaypager, a radio frequency (RF) device, an infrared (IR) device, aPersonal Digital Assistant (PDA), a handheld computer, a tabletcomputer, a laptop computer, a set top box, a wearable computer, anintegrated device combining various features, such as features of theforgoing devices, or the like.

A client device may vary in terms of capabilities or features. Theclient device can include standard components such as a CPU 1302, powersupply 1328, a memory 1318, ROM 1320, BIOS 1322, network interface(s)1330, audio interface 1332, display 1334, keypad 1336, illuminator 1338,I/O interface 1340 interconnected via circuitry 1326. Claimed subjectmatter is intended to cover a wide range of potential variations. Forexample, the keypad 1336 of a cell phone may include a numeric keypad ora display 1334 of limited functionality, such as a monochrome liquidcrystal display (LCD) for displaying text. In contrast, however, asanother example, a web-enabled client device 1300 may include one ormore physical or virtual keyboards 1336, mass storage, one or moreaccelerometers, one or more gyroscopes, global positioning system (GPS)1324 or other location identifying type capability, Haptic interface1342, or a display with a high degree of functionality, such as atouch-sensitive color 2D or 3D display, for example. The memory 1318 caninclude Random Access Memory 1304 including an area for data storage1308.

A client device 1300 may include or may execute a variety of operatingsystems 1306, including a personal computer operating system, such as aWindows, iOS or Linux, or a mobile operating system, such as iOS,Android, or Windows Mobile, or the like. A client device 1300 mayinclude or may execute a variety of possible applications 1310, such asa client software application 1314 enabling communication with otherdevices, such as communicating one or more messages such as via email,short message service (SMS), or multimedia message service (MMS),including via a network, such as a social network, including, forexample, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Flickr, or Google+, to provideonly a few possible examples. A client device 1300 may also include orexecute an application to communicate content, such as, for example,textual content, multimedia content, or the like. A client device 1300may also include or execute an application to perform a variety ofpossible tasks, such as browsing 1312, searching, playing various formsof content, including locally stored or streamed content, such as,video, or games (such as fantasy sports leagues). The foregoing isprovided to illustrate that claimed subject matter is intended toinclude a wide range of possible features or capabilities.

For the purposes of this disclosure a computer readable medium storescomputer data, which data can include computer program code that isexecutable by a computer, in machine readable form. By way of example,and not limitation, a computer readable medium may comprise computerreadable storage media, for tangible or fixed storage of data, orcommunication media for transient interpretation of code-containingsignals. Computer readable storage media, as used herein, refers tophysical or tangible storage (as opposed to signals) and includeswithout limitation volatile and non-volatile, removable andnon-removable media implemented in any method or technology for thetangible storage of information such as computer-readable instructions,data structures, program modules or other data. Computer readablestorage media includes, but is not limited to, RAM, ROM, EPROM, EEPROM,flash memory or other solid state memory technology, CD-ROM, DVD, orother optical storage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape, magnetic diskstorage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other physical ormaterial medium which can be used to tangibly store the desiredinformation or data or instructions and which can be accessed by acomputer or processor.

For the purposes of this disclosure a system or module is a software,hardware, or firmware (or combinations thereof), process orfunctionality, or component thereof, that performs or facilitates theprocesses, features, and/or functions described herein (with or withouthuman interaction or augmentation). A module can include sub-modules.Software components of a module may be stored on a computer readablemedium. Modules may be integral to one or more servers, or be loaded andexecuted by one or more servers. One or more modules may be grouped intoan engine or an application.

Those skilled in the art will recognize that the methods and systems ofthe present disclosure may be implemented in many manners and as suchare not to be limited by the foregoing exemplary embodiments andexamples. In other words, functional elements being performed by singleor multiple components, in various combinations of hardware and softwareor firmware, and individual functions, may be distributed among softwareapplications at either the client or server or both. In this regard, anynumber of the features of the different embodiments described herein maybe combined into single or multiple embodiments, and alternateembodiments having fewer than, or more than, all of the featuresdescribed herein are possible. Functionality may also be, in whole or inpart, distributed among multiple components, in manners now known or tobecome known. Thus, myriad software/hardware/firmware combinations arepossible in achieving the functions, features, interfaces andpreferences described herein. Moreover, the scope of the presentdisclosure covers conventionally known manners for carrying out thedescribed features and functions and interfaces, as well as thosevariations and modifications that may be made to the hardware orsoftware or firmware components described herein as would be understoodby those skilled in the art now and hereafter.

While the system and method have been described in terms of one or moreembodiments, it is to be understood that the disclosure need not belimited to the disclosed embodiments. It is intended to cover variousmodifications and similar arrangements included within the spirit andscope of the claims, the scope of which should be accorded the broadestinterpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and similarstructures. The present disclosure includes any and all embodiments ofthe following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: receiving, by a processorvia a network, input from a user of an email account to consolidateemails received at the email account from a sender; receiving, by theprocessor via the network, consolidation criteria for the sender, theconsolidation criteria comprising a time period in the future forconsolidating new emails from the sender when they arrive; receiving, bythe processor, a first new email from the sender; determining, by theprocessor, upon receipt of the first new email, that the time period iscurrently running and a message entry associated with a prior email sentby the sender exists in an inbox of the email account; merging, by theprocessor, the first new email with the prior email by updating theexisting message entry with a first indication indicating receipt of thefirst new email; configuring, by the processor, a view of the inbox ofthe email account to show a consolidated view of emails from the sendercomprising the first indication associated with the time period andassociated with the prior email from the sender already existing in theinbox, the first indication indicating the receipt of the first newemail consolidated during the time period; transmitting, by theprocessor via the network, to a user device instructions to display theconsolidated view of the first new email and the existing email when theuser logs into the email account; detecting, by the processor, expiry ofthe time period; receiving, by the processor, a second new email fromthe sender after the expiry of the time period; and configuring, by theprocessor, the view of the inbox to show a second indication for thesecond new email, wherein the first indication and the second indicationare different indications.
 2. The method of claim 1 further comprising:including, by the processor, a consolidation element in a display of theinbox; and receiving, by the processor, the input from the user viaactivation of the consolidation element.
 3. The method of claim 1,further comprising: configuring, by the processor, the emails in theconsolidated view to be displayed in a tabbed user interface when theuser desires to view the emails.
 4. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising: detecting, by the processor, a type associated with emailsreceived into the email account.
 5. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising: configuring, by the processor, a user interface associatedwith the email account to display statistics associated with mostfrequent senders.
 6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:configuring, by the processor, a view of the inbox to display afrequency of message transmission associated with each sender.
 7. Themethod of claim 1, further comprising: generating, by the processor,statistics related to received email messages based on user request. 8.A computing system comprising: at least one processor; a storage mediumfor tangibly storing thereon program logic for execution by theprocessor, the program logic comprising: input receiving logic, executedby the processor, for receiving, via a network, input from a user of anemail account to consolidate emails received at the email account from asender; criteria receiving logic, executed by the processor, forreceiving, via the network, consolidation criteria for the sender, theconsolidation criteria comprising a time period in the future forconsolidating new emails from the sender when they arrive; emailreceiving logic, executed by the processor, for receiving a first newemail from the sender; determining logic, executed by the processor, fordetermining, upon receipt of the first new email, that the time periodis currently running and a message entry associated with a prior emailsent by the sender exists in an inbox of the email account; merginglogic, executed by the processor, for merging the first new email withthe prior email by updating the existing message entry with a firstindication indicating receipt of the first new email; inbox configuringlogic, executed by the processor, for configuring a view of the inbox ofthe email account to show a consolidated view of emails from the sendercomprising the first indication associated with the time period andassociated with the prior email from the sender already existing in theinbox, the first indication indicating the first new email consolidatedduring the time period; transmitting logic, executed by the processor,for transmitting, via the network, instructions to a user device todisplay the consolidated view of the first new email and the existingemail when the user logs into the email account; detecting logic,executed by the processor, for detecting expiry of the time period;email receiving logic, executed by the processor, for receiving a secondnew email from the sender after the expiry of the time period; and entryconfiguring logic, executed by the processor, for configuring the viewof the inbox to show a second indication for the second new email,wherein the first indication and the second indication are differentindications.
 9. The computing system of claim 8 further comprising:configuring logic, executed by the processor, for configuring a displayof the inbox to include a consolidation element such that the receivinglogic, executed by the processor, receives the input from the user viaactivation of the consolidation element.
 10. A computer readable storagemedium, comprising instructions, which when executed by a processorcause the processor to: receive, via a network, input from a user of anemail account to consolidate emails received at the email account from asender; receive, via the network, consolidation criteria for the sender,the consolidation criteria comprising at least a time period in thefuture for consolidating new emails from the sender when they arrive;receive a first new email from the sender; determine, upon receipt ofthe first new email, that the time period is currently running and amessage entry associated with a prior email sent by the sender exists inan inbox of the email account; merge the first new email with the prioremail by updating the existing message entry with a first indicationindicating receipt of the first new email; configure a view of the inboxof the email account to show a consolidated view of emails from thesender comprising the first indication associated with the time periodand associated with the prior email from the sender already existing inthe inbox, the first indication indicating the first new emailconsolidated during the time period; transmit, via the network, to auser device instructions to display the consolidated view of the firstnew email and the existing email when the user logs into the emailaccount; detecting expiry of the time period; receiving a second newemail from the sender after the expiry of the time period; andconfiguring the view of the inbox to show a second indication for thesecond new email, wherein the first indication and the second indicationare different indications.
 11. The computer readable storage medium ofclaim 10 further comprising instructions to: provide a consolidationelement in a display of the inbox; and receive an activation of theconsolidation element as the input from the user.